UK Leads in TV Show Downloading 355
dirutz writes "Britain has emerged as the world's biggest market for downloading pirated TV, with Australia being the second and the U.S. sitting at third. Among the top pirated TV shows, '24' ranks the first. 'The Simpsons,' 'Enterprise,' 'Stargate SG-1' and 'Battlestar Galactica' are also among the top hitters." 'Pirated' seems a strong word, at least for watching those programs which have been beamed (unencrypted) through my body. Where can I pay a quarter per show for moderate-quality, sanctioned torrent files?
Not Suprising (Score:3, Informative)
WTF - Battlestar Galactica (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I am totally shocked Aust. is Second (Score:3, Informative)
Re:why is it piracy? (Score:4, Informative)
Yup. Delayed viewing. Explicitely permitted by law.
If yes, can my friends borrow the tape from me? Can I do that
Possibly. IANAL but it probably comes under fair use.
If yes, what if I have 1000 friends? is it still legal?
Then you're pushing your luck. Fair use takes into account various factors, including impact on the market. Letting a few friends see a copy is unlikely to have a huge effect on the market. It may result in a lost 'sale' (or rather fewer viewers resulting in lower revenue)for the broadcasters, but the effect will be small. Sharing with 1000 people is a lot more likely to have an effect. But you are limited here. It will take a long time to lend it to 1000 people. At the minimum, if only one person watches it at a time, it will be difficult for all of them to see it within a month.
If yes, can I use bitorrent to share the video??
No.
Hey! Didja hear? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:WTF - Battlestar Galactica (Score:5, Informative)
In addition, there's plenty of places that can't install a satellite dish (or install cable), such as rental properties or blocks of flats under tenancy agreements.
Even of the small percentage of the population (about 15% I think) who can watch Sky, some people may not have been around when it was broadcast, and downloading it is better than using tape, and simpler than ripping the ads yourself.
Re:why is it piracy? (Score:1, Informative)
You can timeshift, that is fair use. You are using a machine to record a copy for your self to watch in your own time as many times as you want.
If yes, can my friends borrow the tape from me? Can I do that
Even if you didn't make a copy you can not do this. You could argue that your fair use copy when lent is only watchable on one machine at one time, and that it was your fair use copy permited under the law. But make no mistake. You don't actually have the right to sell, lend, or copy. You can time shift, but not local shift.
No one gives a shit, but that does not mean what you are doing is protected under fair use.
If yes, what if I have 1000 friends? is it still legal?
It would take years for 1000 friends to borrow that one copy. To hit 1000 people in a reasonable time, you'd have to make a copy. This isn't time shifting nor protected under fair use.
If yes, can I use bitorrent to share the video??
It stops being protected under fair use the moment you copy, lend, or sell it. You could hardly even call the thousands of people who use bittorrent your friends.
Time shifting for personal use is fair use.
Lending a time shifted copy isn't fair use.
Making copies of a timeshifted copy isn't fair use.